and life lessons

Inspir-lack-tional?

I haven’t felt very inspired the past couple of weeks. I’ve been away from home for some training, living out of a hotel, eating different food, working out at a different gym, and getting my mind filled daily with tons of geek-tastic knowledge, which I subsequently dream about at night. That’s right, I’ve started dreaming in binary. But that’s not the point.

The point is that I haven’t been inspired by much of anything recently. Not the close-to-spring weather. Not articles I’ve read online. Not music. Not TV. Not my workouts. I’m not depressed; heck, I’m not even in a funk. I’ve just I’ve struggled to come up with something clever to write about.

But then I got to thinking that, in fact, it is precisely these unmotivating, uninspired times that are some of the most important times in life in terms of our daily growth as people, as athletes, and as shooters.

NOT EVERY DAY IS THE SUPERBOWL

My ex-husband always used to say, “Not every day is the Superbowl.” He would typically use that line in reference to having a bad day, but it doesn’t necessarily have to have a negative connotation. It can also mean that some days – in fact, most days – are just “normal” days, instead of big events.

But the importance of those normal days is no less than the big event days. Why? Because you only get to the Superbowl after tens of thousands of normal days of practice and faithfulness to your craft.

How did Jerry Miculek get to be the greatest shooter of all time? Through thousands of rounds of faithful practice over the years. How did Rich Froning get to be the fittest man on earth? Through thousands of reps in faithful workouts over the years. How did Mariano Rivera get to be the greatest baseball closer of all time? Through thousands of perfect pitches in faithful practice over the years. How did ADM Bill McRaven get to be the greatest special operator in all of the US military? Though thousands of days of working hard and doing his best through the years.

The greatest closer of all time. More men have walked on the moon (12) than have scored against Rivera in the postseason (11).

FAITHFUL IN THE LITTLE THINGS

In Luke 12, Jesus tells the story of a servant waiting at home for his master’s return. The servant doesn’t know when the master will come back, so he must patiently wait and be faithful in his duties because the master could return at any time. He mows the lawn; he tends to the crops; he sits watch at night. The servant could slack off and throw some parties, forget to lock the doors, and maybe mistreat the other servants. But he knows the master would kill him if the master were to return and find him engaged in such activities. So the servant remains faithful in the boring, mundane little things as long as he needs to be – because he knows the master will return someday and the day of reckoning is coming.

It is precisely in the boring, uninspired, unexciting periods of life that greatness is built. Shot after shot, rep after rep, pitch after pitch, or ruck march after ruck march – greatness in the Superbowl of life is built on a foundation of faithfulness in the uninspired times of life.

So get up and practice. Go work out. Go study. Go be faithful today so you can be great tomorrow!